Condiment dispensers



Dec. 11, 1956 R. J. GABLER 2,773,628

CONDIMENT DISPENSERS Filed Aug. 16. 1952 INVENTOR DOBERT- rf. GHB/.EP

UnitedStates Patent 2,773,628 CONDIMENT DISPENSERS Robert J. Gabler, New York, N. Y.

Application August 16, 1952, Serial No. 304,782 6 Claims. (c1. zzz-142.1)

This invention relates to condiment dispensers, and has for a .principal object the provision of combining the shakers into one connected unit. Another object thereof is to provide a shaker which emits the condiment from the bottom or resting end of the unit instead of the top, the customary manner of operation utilized in the art. By said last mentioned object, the constant wrist action necessary in turning over the shaker to obtain the same condiment is eliminated.

One further object of the invention is to provide such a connected unit capable of dispensing salt, pepper, or other condiment without the use of valves, piston arrangements, levers, springs, or other moving parts which are likely to become clogged by contact with the condiment. Still another object is to provide a unit which is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to repair, and which will eliminate the necessity of separate containers for salt, pepper, other condiments, and seasoning.

To these and other ends, the invention resides in the certain improvements, combinations of parts and novel features, all as are hereinafter more fully described and set forth in the claimsat the end of the specification.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a side elevation of the complete shaker.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the unit parts designated as the disk with vthe conveying member in the specification following.

Figure 3 is likewise a perspective view of another of the unit parts designated in the specification as the conical or otherwise shaped caps.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of another variation of the complete shaker.

The same reference numeral is used throughout the several views to indicate the same part. Similar parts located in different portions of the device bear the same designation numerals but with the numerals in one part primed with respect to the numerals in the other part.

The invention as aforesaid is properly applied to the dispensing of salt, pepper, other granular condiments, seasonings, and the like, and may comprise in its structural embodiment a tube or container 5 divided into two chambers 6 and 6', each to contain one of the condiments to be dispensed in the combined unit.

Each end of said tube or container 5 is closed with a base or closure 7 and 7 which is threaded to said tube or container 5 or fastened thereto by other suitable means so as to prevent leakage of the separate condiments from the chambers 6 and 6' except as directed. Both of the said bases or closures 7 and 7 are provided with a hole 8 and 8 in the diametrical center thereof for the emission of salt or pepper through said member upon the operation of the shaker as hereinafter particularly described and set forth.

Secured between the aforesaid bases or closures 7 and 7 and the tube or container 5, are circular disks 9 and 9' of a diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of said tube 5, and also slightly less than the inside diameter of 2,773,628 l Patented Dec. 11,n 12956 ICC said bases or closures 7 and 7', which, in operation, rests in the hollow interior, threaded section of said bases or closures 7 and 7 as indicated in the drawings. lSaid disks 9 and 9' are capable of being rigidly held between said bases or closures 7 and 7 and the tube or container 5 upon screwing the bases or closures 7 and 7 tightly on the tube or container 5. Similarly to said bases or closures 7 and 7', both of said disks 9 and 9' are provided with a hole 10 and 10' in the diametrical center thereof for the emission of salt or pepper through said member upon lthe operation of the shaker as hereinafter describedand set forth. The holes 8 and 10, and 8' and 10' are continuous in their length and lead into each other.

Aixed to the holes 10 and 10' of said disks 9 and 9', and projecting from each end of the unit into said cham? bers 6 and 6', are the discharge tubes 11 vand 11 of relatively narrow diameter, providing, however, passageway from the top 12 and 12 of each tube 11 and 11', through said tubes 11 and 11', through said disks 9 and 9', and

kthrough said bases or closures 7 and 7' for deposit upon the matter to be seasoned. These tubes 11 and 11' may be straight, bent, or generally in the whole or portions of their length out of plumb in the approximate manner suggested in the annexed drawings.

Conical or similarly functioning caps 13 and 13', of diameter in excess of said discharge tubes 11 and 11', may be aixed to the top 12 and 12 of each tube 11 and 11', having the holes 14 and 14 the purposes of which will be described hereinafter in connection with the manner of operation of the unit itself.

After each of the chambers 6 and 6' have beenlled with salt, pepper, or other condiment, the unit may be placed in a resting position on one of the bases or closures 7 and 7', whereupon it will readily be seen that no salt, pepper, or other condiment will be emitted upon the table or other support.

If the condiment desired by the user is, for exaniple,

salt, which is in the lower or resting chamber 6 in the drawing, the user has only to shake the unit in an upward direction sufliciently to raise the salt from its resting posi tion on the base 9 to the mouth or open end 12 of the tube 11, whereby salt will be dispensed through said tube 11, disk 9, and base or closure 7. The pepper or other condiment contained in the upper chamber 6' is restrained in part by gravity, in part by the narrow aperture 12' of the tube 11', in part by the bend or twist in the tube 11', and in part, by the shielding action of the cap 13', whereby it will be found that no pepper or other condiment will be ejected from said chamber 6 upon shaking during the effective operation of the chamber 6 as aforesaid. Condiment contained in the upper chamber 6', caught in the cap 13 upon such shaking because of the larger diameter of the cap 13' over the tube 11', will be drained therefrom through the hole 14' in said member 13'.

If, however, the condiment desired by the user is in the upper chamber 6', he has only to turn the unit over, hold the same over the food to be seasoned, and the method of operation described in the next preceding paragraph of this specification with respect to the operation of the chamber 6 repeated. Similarly, the condiment contained in the chamber 6, now the upper chamber, will be restrained in part by gravity, in part by the narrow aperture 12 of the tube 11, in part by the bend or twist in the tube 11, and in part, by the shielding action of the cap 13.

One purpose of the conical or otherwise shaped but similarly operating caps is to prevent the automatic dispensation of condiment in a newly lowered chamber as the unit is turned over by the user. Another purpose is to impede the entry of condiment into the apertures 12 and 12 during the operation of the other chamber. With respect to the lower chamber, said members 13 and 13' will serve to gatherl and concentrate the condiment into the apertures 12 and 12', whichever be in operation.

It is intended hereby to cover all changes and modications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute de partures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

As an example but not to limit the meaning of the foregoing, it is to be understood that an enclosed structure is herein the equivalent of a structure with a closing means. A s one further example, that in place of the restraint of gravity, the narrow apertures 12 and 12 of the tubes 11 and 11', the bend or twist of said tubes 11 and 11', and the shielding action of the caps 13 and 13', each chamber itself may be divided into two parts save for a connecting hole or channel out of register with the inner ends 1'2 and 12' of the tubes 11 and 1 1'.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A condiment dispenser comprising a container partitioned to provide separate condiment receiving chambers, closures threadably mounted on the opposite ends of said container and provided with .centrally disposed outlet passages, disks seated on the ends of said container and secured thereon by said closures and formed with centrally disposed apertures aligned with the apertures in said closures, inwardly extending discharge tubes carried by said disks, and inverted cone-shaped caps supported by the inner ends of said discharge tubes and in concentric relation thereto.

2. A condiment dispenser comprising a container partitioned to provide separate .condiment receiving chambers, closures threadablyy mounted on the opposite ends of said container and provided with centrally disposed outlet passages, disks seated on the ends of said container and secured thereon by said closures and formed with centrally disposed apertures aligned with the apertures in said closures, inwardly extending discharge tubes carried by said disks and having olset portions at points intermediate their ends, and inverted cone-shaped caps supported by the inner ends of said discharge tubes and in concentric relation thereto.

3. A condiment dispenser for dry rcomminuated materials comprising a container having a partition to provide separate condiment receiving chambers, each chamber having an ejection opening for its respective condiment and with the ejection openings located at opopsite ends of the container, closure means for each end of the container, each closure means being provided with a respective one of said ejection openings, discharge tubes extending inwardly of a corresponding one of said chambers and communicating with a respective one of said ejection openings, and bathe cap members, one for each of said dis charge tubes, each cap member being supported in a shielding position adjacent the inner end of its associated discharge tube, and in spaced relation thereto.

4. A .condiment dispenser according to claim 3, in which said partition extends across the width of said container to divide it into two separate longitudinally adjacent chambers.

5. A condiment dispenser according to claim 3, in which said partition extends along the length of said container to divide it into two separate laterally adjacent chambers.

6. A condiment dispenser according to claim 3, in which each of said discharge tubes has a bent portion intermediate its ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 386,418 Wherry et al July 17, 1888 535,167 Kotz Mar. 5, 1905 968,890 Sprinkle Aug. 30, 1910 1,588,552 Sprinkle June 15, 1926 1,763,449 Trautvetter June 10, 1930 1,919,280 Langton July 25, 1933 1,937,505 Beebe Dec. 5, 1933 2,373,551 De Lander Apr. 10, 1945 2,389,385 Owen Nov. 20, 1945 2,519,671 Law Aug. 22, 1950 2,535,913 Galvin et al Dec. 26, 1950 

